NASHVILLE - The Lipscomb community suffered a great loss on November 20 when former Bisons great Farrell Owens passed away at the age of 76. 

Owens donned the Purple and Gold as a member of the Lipscomb baseball team in the 1960s, helping lead the Bisons to a district title and their first-ever NAIA Regional Tournament Appearance in 1966. 

One of Owens' most notable moments on the diamond at Lipscomb came against Belmont during his senior season when he turned an unassisted double play...from the outfield. 

In 1992 Owens was inducted in the Lipscomb Athletics Hall of Fame, but his Nashville baseball roots spread far beyond Dugan Field. 

Owens was one of the key figures in bringing the Nashville Sounds to town in the 1970s, acting as an original owner and vice president and serving as the team's first general manager. 

Just recently Owens was named an advisor to the Music City Baseball board, a group leading the charge to bring an MLB team to Nashville. 

In his pre-Lipscomb playing days, Owens was an All-City performer at Pearl-Cohn. After suiting up in the Purple and Gold, Owens continued to play and coach baseball for various amateur teams around town. 

He was eventually inducted into the Nashville Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame by the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association, of which he served as president in 1987-88. The group award him their top honor, Mr. Baseball, in 1997. 

In 1989 Owens founded The Sandlotter, a newspaper that covered amateur baseball in the Nashville area. The website version of the publication remains an important source for the local baseball community to this day. 

The following is a collection of stories, thoughts, and memories from some of those that knew Owens best.

Mickey Hiter, founder and operator of SANDLOTT Sports and a college teammate of Owens

Farrell and I go all the way back. He was a senior and I was a freshman at Lipscomb, and we worked together on The Sandlotter, so I can't think of anybody that I've been much closer to over the last 50 years than Farrell. Baseball was just our passion. 

Farrell just had an uncanny ability to network with people. If you were involved in baseball in some shape, form, or fashion, you kind of knew Farrell. He was at pretty much every Lipscomb event there was. 

If you were on his mailing list, and if you're in baseball you probably were, you would get an email saying today is so-and-so's birthday and that he is a member of the Lipscomb Hall of Fame he's 86 years old today. I don't know how you replace that. I don't even know how he knew, other than that's just the way his mind worked. I love so many people that's in the baseball community, but couldn't possibly tell you when their birthday was. That meant a lot to people. 

We had so many running jokes. It just constantly went on all day. He would always try to make something fun, even when you're working. I can't replace that.

You just have three or four guys in your life that are your buddy. And Farrell is my buddy. I'm convinced he's a special person. Friends like that, you just don't replace.

I knew Farrell and I would have a long-term friendship because as soon as I got to Lipscomb, as you might expect and as baseball teams do, the seniors kind of haze the freshman a little bit. And I wouldn't budge. I think Farrell kind of liked that. 

There's not anything having to do with Lipscomb that Farrell wouldn't be applicable. He bled purple. He's got to stop every 10-15 feet and have a conversation. That's rare. Farrell was unique and one-of-a-kind.

Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb Baseball Head Coach 

Farrell was Nashville baseball. Everybody knew him. If there was a game he was going to find it. I heard somebody describe Farrell at his funeral as there's nobody that Farrell wasn't friends with. I mean Farrell made friends with everybody and, I think baseball was just his platform because that was his passion. He not only loved Nashville baseball, but arguably he was Lipscomb baseball's biggest fan. He was an ambassador for our game. 

Farrell cared so much. He cared so much about people, but he also cared about Lipscomb and he cared about Lipscomb baseball.

From professional baseball down to Little League Baseball, he just loved our game. The Lord put him in baseball to impact people. 

Jackie Charlton, college teammate of Owens 

He and I were friends since we shared the outfield at Lipscomb. One of the one of the things that people really close to him knew is his real sense of humor and dry wit that he had. We were playing Tulane University in 1966 and Farrell went to catch a fly ball. He ran into the fence. It looked like a trampoline when he hit it. I ran out there to ask him how he's doing. He looks up at me and says "how's the crowd taking it." 

He just absorbed the memories of ball games. He could tell you who was the winning pitcher when I was just wondering if I was even there. He just loved baseball and that was what his life surrounded, other than his family which he loved dearly. You never saw him out of line. You never saw him lose his temper at a bad call. Everybody that played with him and played for him always respected him. 

I told his daughters we weren't just teammates, we were best friends. He'll be missed at Lipscomb. He was a great teammate and a great person. Farrell and I, we just loved baseball and loved people. Outside of kinfolk, I didn't have a closer friend. I'm just surely going to miss him. There's going to be a hole there where he sits at all the ball games.

Brian Ryman, Lipscomb Athletics Director of Operations 

"FO" as I call him is one of the first guys I met from Lipscomb 17 years ago in the summer sandlot league. He ran the website and stats. Later when I started working at Lipscomb he was one of our biggest alumni supporters and was a voice to other Bison Baseball alumni.

FO taught me so much about baseball in Nashville and about our program. We had a unique friendship and I could always count on good advice from him. There is no one who has had their hands on the Nashville baseball scene more than he has the last 40 years at each level of the game.

Farrell always enjoyed keeping up with the former Bisons who made it to the big leagues. He liked going to their games to cheer them on. One of my favorite Farrell stories is from when former Bison Josh Smith got called up for the MLB debut with the Reds. Farrell called me that morning and was so excited as he wanted to go to the game that night in Cincinnati. I called Josh to let him know Farrell and Andy Lane were coming and Josh said he would leave them tickets at Will Call. Farrell and Andy got in their car and took off for the trip to Cincy. About three hours I got a call from Josh and he said, "Hey, Farrell knows that we are playing in Oakland tonight doesn't he?" I died laughing! A few minutes later my phone rings again and it's Andy Lane and while laughing hysterically he says, "He is walking toward the river. He might not stop. He might walk straight into it! He is so mad at himself right now." Farrell walked up to the Reds ticket window to ask for their two tickets only to learn there was no home game that day since the team was playing in Oakland!

Needless to say he missed Josh Smith's MLB debut by about 2,300 miles.

Philip Hutcheson, Lipscomb Director of Athletics 

I feel safe in saying that you could count on one hand, and probably wouldn't need every finger, the number of people who were as big a fan of Lipscomb sports, baseball or sports in Nashville as Farrell Owens. More importantly, there are so many of us who felt like he was a fan of each of us, individually, based on his warm and supportive nature. His presence and encouragement will certainly be missed!